


Aubade

by FatalViolet520



Series: Beautiful Words (beautiful you) [5]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Feuding Families, Forbidden Love, M/M, Noblility AU, a rewrite and character study of romeo and juliet, cute petnames uwu, implied happy ending, kinda angsty? maybe?, mentions of arranged marriages, or like what might have happened if romeo calmed the fuck down, take this with a pinch of salt and enjoy the imagery, uh set in like an old time frame?, yes yes i know he's characterised by the way he acts extremely on absolutely everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-06 23:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18861322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FatalViolet520/pseuds/FatalViolet520
Summary: Their love becomes a story, in the end. One of the light, one of the dark. They should not have fallen in love, but they have anyway, and love is like that.Taeyong is 18 when he falls in love with Jung Jaehyun, and perhaps that's when he starts living in the nights.





	Aubade

**Author's Note:**

> okay HI this was a pretty ambitious thing and just a few things: this is set in a fictional world and while i used many Korean influences, as seen in their clan names and the references to traditional Korean clothing, i ultimately chose to set it a fictional world solely because i didn't want to get Korean history wrong and mess up any nobility stuff. i also decided to keep with Korean names (I used a variety of base words) and Korean clothing because i love researching about the history of countries and i am ALL for the preservation and spread of cultures other than the mostly Western cultures and myths that you do see a lot. please take this world with a pinch of salt! 
> 
> i also based this loosely off romeo and juliet. in the play, romeo and juliet are forced to part in the mornings - an aubade, if you will - and the play does ultimately culminate in their deaths as well as the death of several other characters. whether their deaths truly made Montague and Capulet reconcile is a debatable point seeing how they try to one up each other in the end, but i thought it was interesting to explore the play if i eliminated the characteristic extreme decisions romeo always makes, replacing it with a more level-headed version of romeo. 
> 
> i have also included the use of body tattoos born at birth to add to the imagery of the story - day and night, the light and the stars, solely because i love that aesthetic and it added a facet to the story that flowed really naturally, so i left it in. the timeline jumps from their first meeting to maybe two/three years ahead and resumes to a fast paced few days, as the original play suggests.
> 
> there is no character death or anything in this fic, and the opening does suggest heavily towards a happy ending, but feel free to interpret in ways you would like to! please enjoy this, as always.

 

[Aubade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aubade)  
/əʊˈbɑːd/  
_noun_

1\. a morning love song about lovers separating at dawn.  
2\. a song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak

 

* * *

 

One of the first memories Taeyong has is of his mother, holding him under the plum tree and singing softly, a lullaby old as time cascading from her mouth. He remembers the freshness of the grass and the blossoms when they bloomed, and the ice of the snow when the branches were bare; he remembers the warmth of his mother’s arms and the sweet bell-chime of her laughter; he remembers the petals that catches in her dark hair and the flowers that she makes into a crown for him. 

 

He remembers her tracing the growing ink that starts pooling in his collarbones, as bright and beautiful as the gold of the sun, and she tells him that he will grow up to be beautiful. There was not a worry he had. 

 

But those are of the past now.  _ Now  _ is bitter words between his mother and his father, constantly at heads because of the rising tension their family, the Ilneul clan, has with the only other noble family in their county, always stalling and bickering about the relationship between them for reasons Taeyong is never told. 

 

And he, Taeyong, becomes caught in the middle of everything.  

 

Taeyong is 18, barely come of age, when he meets the son of the main house of the Dalwon clan. He does not meet him through any sort of formal occasion nor peace treaty talks; he meets Jung Jaehyun in the recesses of midnight and dawn in the public courtyard. 

 

At first sight, Taeyong does not know who he is at first, but then he sees it - the boy who carries the Dalwon name so well, dark ink spilling from his neck before it’s covered by his clothes, and Taeyong knows it extends down to his spine, pooling at the base. He knows because his father had told him before. 

 

_ Never associate yourself with the Dalwon clan, _ the memory of a seven year old him resurfaces,  _ they are nothing but trouble. Never look for anyone, okay, Taeyong _ ? 

 

“Well,” Jung Jaehyun murmurs, catching sight of Taeyong even through the darkness. “Pleased to finally meet you, Lee Taeyong.” How can he have not seen Taeyong, not known about him? Taeyong, the oldest son of the Lee family, the most powerful family within the Ilneul clan. Taeyong, of the light and the day, rumours of golden threads spilling from his neck down to his torso, bringing light wherever he graced. 

 

“Jung Jaehyun,” Taeyong acknowledges, then leaves the quivering silence between them unfilled. 

 

“You are not leaving,” Jaehyun says, an observation but it can be posed as a question, if Taeyong wishes it to be. 

 

“I have no reason to leave,” Taeyong replies, but he knows he should, knows that if one of his clan’s guards come round to see him consorting with Jaehyun, he will be reprimanded, grounded. “I see you are in no hurry to leave as well.” 

 

“I have nothing against you,” Jaehyun says simply, looking like he belongs with the night and the dark even though his skin is pearly in the shroud. “It is my family that does not agree with yours. I am not obliged to agree with any of my family’s opinions.” He has shed the traditional  _ durumagi _ of his clan, and this allows Taeyong to observe the sweep of the dark ink that curls around the base of his neck before it disappears into his clothes, and Taeyong tries not to think about how his own ink must be glowing in the inky night, blatantly marking him as light, light, light.

 

It is Taeyong that does not belong in the dark of this time. “Astute, as expected.” He casts his gaze upwards, towards the clouds rolling in through the starless sky. “It will rain soon.” 

 

“And the sun must go in, must it not?” Jaehyun asks, and it might have been an insult, a tease, were it from another member of the Dalwon clan, but it is from Jaehyun. It is merely a reference to Taeyong’s clan, and his name, and who Taeyong is, and always will be. 

 

He does not know why that tugs at his heart. 

 

“The sun will rise,” Taeyong replies, unexpectedly fragile, “It always will.” 

 

“And the moon continues to reflect it,” Jaehyun says, stepping closer to Taeyong. 

 

Taeyong has never met Jaehyun before, has never so much as exchanged a word nor been in his presence before, but he does not feel strange, does not feel the strange prickle of heat that rises on his spine like knobbles when the other members of the Dalwon clan stare at him and hiss at him when they pass in the street. 

 

No, Jaehyun feels different. There is no coldness about the night he represents, no frigidity in the dark his name carries. Jaehyun brings the night to him like the sun brings light to the dark, enveloping and not suffocating, and it makes Taeyong feel just a little bit less like a stranger in the carcass of twilight. 

 

“Will you, Jung Jaehyun?” Taeyong asks, feeling like the breath has been stolen from his lungs. 

 

“Perhaps it is my duty to,” Jaehyun whispers, a hand coming to circle round Taeyong’s wrist, delicate and gentle, and Taeyong thinks his heart is going to beat right into his throat. 

 

Taeyong is 18 years young when he meets Jung Jaehyun and against everything that he was told to do,  _ falls in love _ with him. He has had only one night with Jaehyun, their first night that time, but he remembers it, crystal clear like the pond in the garden with his plum tree, and he is afraid. Afraid that he will be caught, that his heart will be found beating for Jaehyun and left for everyone to see. 

 

“I am not afraid when I am with you,” Jaehyun whispers, promises, and just like that, Taeyong allows himself to fall. 

 

Is what they have clandestine? Taeyong isn’t sure, but he loves feeling the night wind carding through his hair, as soft as Jaehyun’s fingers. He loves tracing fingers over the ink that spills down Jaehyun’s back, and in return having calloused hands brush over his collarbones, awed with the gold that collects there. He loves having not to force himself to shine, loves how the night encompasses him and lets him dull just for a while so he can be himself.

 

Above all, as time passes and they grow older and his family becomes more anxious to secure a marriage for him, Taeyong loves Jaehyun more and more. 

 

“You deserve so much more than what I can give you,” Jaehyun admits one night. He had scaled up to Taeyong’s low balcony, prising through the thicket of flowers spilling out the balcony just to meet Taeyong, who had been kept in for the night by his father. 

 

“I deserve exactly you, and no one else,” Taeyong says, voice hushed. Still, the words hurt, and reality hurts. He cannot be with Jaehyun - the person he will have to marry will never be Jaehyun. Not for the first time since he has loved Jaehyun, he wishes he was never born with the golden ink on his skin. 

 

“Yet you are dimmed by the night, by me,” Jaehyun says, pain threading his words, allowing Taeyong to lace his fingers through his hair. “I love to see you in the sun, in the day. I love you, my - my  _ light _ , and yet I dim you because of who I am.” His hands come to settle on Taeyong’s waist gently, and the way he looks at Taeyong - it makes Taeyong shiver, overwhelmed by the affection he sees. 

 

“The light does not exist without the dark,” Taeyong says softly. “There is light within the dark as well, you must know this. There is the moon, and you, my star, my love. I still shine, but less so, and if that is what it takes to be with you, so be it.”

 

“One day, you will be able to shine where you belong,” Jaehyun promises, brushing a finger reverently over the highs of Taeyong’s cheek. “I will try my best, my light.” 

 

This, Taeyong knows. Jaehyun is trying his best to move his parents views and initiate peace talks between them, with Taeyong aiding him from his side of the family, but they are running out of time and soon they - this, everything - will have to end soon. 

 

“I know you are,” Taeyong whispers, leaning into Jaehyun’s warmth. “Kiss me, please?” 

 

“If it makes you happy, my light,” Jaehyun says, and they melt into an embrace. 

 

The nights they share together are always happy, and Taeyong thinks this is the happiest he will ever be. Pressing close to Jaehyun, lips melding together and sharing the warmth that stems from the two of them - this is heaven, this is his salvation. This is his home and his heart and his everything, and he cannot imagine living without Jaehyun. 

 

The nights always pass fast, and Jaehyun inevitably has to leave before the sun breaks over the horizon. 

 

He will never get to see the light dazzling through Taeyong’s hair, will never get to kiss his soft mouth painted gold, will never get to see him shrouded in the light where he rightfully belongs. He returns to the dark, the night, the shadows, and watches as Taeyong gleams in the day until night falls and they can be together again. 

 

“Stay,” Taeyong pleads one night, slim fingers cording around his wrist, a plea and not a command. “Please, my love, for one night. Let me - let us have this, for one night.” 

 

Jaehyun hesitates. “You know I would,” He murmurs, fingers carding through Taeyong’s hair, dyed silver and bright by the moonlight. “In a heartbeat. I don’t care what happens to me, but you…” He stops to kiss the apple of Taeyong’s cheek, then the curve of his jaw and raises his hand to kiss his ring finger. “If anything happened to you, light, I would never forgive myself.” 

 

“And yet I am only light,” Taeyong persists. “Light does not exist without the dark that makes it shine, and so will I, only if you are here with me.” He softens, shakes, as Jaehyun threads a ring onto his finger, the same promise he’d been pressing into his skin for what seems like an age. “My star, will you not?” 

 

“One day,” Jaehyun vows, “I promise you, my light. One day, we will wake with the sun everyday, I promise you.” 

 

“Tomorrow,” Taeyong says, hopes, and he stands too, pressing kiss after kiss to Jaehyun, unwilling to part. “Tomorrow, we will.” 

 

Jaehyun cannot promise anything about tomorrow. “We will,” He says, then sweeps Taeyong into his arms tightly, cherishing and imprinting the warmth of Taeyong’s body, his lines and curves, his fragrance and the way he clutches at the front of Jaehyun’s shirt, impossibly fragile, delicate only with him. 

 

“My star,” Taeyong bids, however unwillingly, heart crumbling further with every night that Jaehyun has to leave. 

 

“My light,” Jaehyun returns, soft, then he’s disappearing into the night, down the balcony, leaving Taeyong with nothing but the burning kisses on his lips and neck, the lingering scent of him and the flash of the deep, dark blue that Taeyong’s family has sworn to hate for an age. 

 

“And thus, I am alone again,” Taeyong murmurs, fingers warm against the cold of the balcony rail. Not for the first time since he has met Jaehyun, he wishes that the golden threads inked on his skin that dripped from under his ear to his collarbones and sides did not exist, and he was part of the commoners.

 

Not a noble. Not an Ilneul. 

 

Just, Taeyong.

 

How long more can he stand to live like this? Surviving in the day when he should be thriving, breathing in the night when he should be still. The talks of being married to someone from the next county over doesn’t sit well with Taeyong, upsetting him from the depths of his chest, and he protests the marriage, but his father is adamant on it and Taeyong is helpless. It doesn’t take long for him to break. 

 

“Let us go somewhere,” Taeyong whispers, sweet but heartbreaking as Jaehyun comes to find him that night. “Let us leave for a place where our names mean nothing, where the ink on our skin will not be known.” He laces their fingers together and tries not to think how this might be one of the last times he sees Jaehyun.

 

Jaehyun just looks at him, breathes in the scent of him, plum blossoms and clear water, and draws him into his arms. 

 

“Are you sure, my light?” Jaehyun murmurs. “I will - I will go, if you wish. I love you, and if we can be together, where you can shine - I will go, without a doubt.” 

 

“As sure as the first night I met you and knew I would love you,” Taeyong says, fierce in his affection and conviction. “I know of a friend who will help us, if we were to leave.” He hesitates a little, eyes tracing over the high of the nose, the curve of the lips, the shape of the eyes that he has come to know and love so intimately over time. “It will be difficult,” He admits, “There will be hiding, and there will be hunger and pain… But I promise you, I will never leave your side.” 

 

“I am not afraid when I am with you,” Jaehyun says, the exact same words all those years ago, and Taeyong breathes out. 

 

They make plans to leave a week from then. It is not like the county does not know about them. There are rumours among the commoners, that the two sons of the opposing clans were engaged in an affair, and the news is tumultuous, spreading through the towns like wildfire, yet curiously, it never reaches them, the nobles, the powerful.

 

Perhaps the commoners are on their side, Taeyong muses. Perhaps they think that peace will come as a result of the love they have. Taeyong knows that the commoners suffer the brunt of the hostility between the clans, with territory and families marked and fighting encouraged, families torn apart and turned on each other. It pains his heart, knowing he is a part of the clan yet has no power to stop the hostility, barred and caged by his father.

 

The time draws closer to leave, and their friend gives them a map and names, tells them where to go and who to look for. 

 

“You should get married,” He adds before they leave. “It is much better to be travelling, married. I know of someone who will marry you, if you wish.” He leaves them then to contemplate on his pronunciation, going to fetch some clothes for their journey. 

 

“We should marry, then?” Taeyong asks, and the words send a giddy sweetness into his mouth. 

 

“Better to me than to the next county,” Jaehyun says, unable to conceal his slight jealousy, curving a palm round Taeyong’s waist. 

 

“Don’t be silly,” Taeyong admonishes. “I will marry no one but you.” He knows that Jaehyun knows this, but Jaehyun smiles at his admission anyway, leaning over to kiss his mouth gently until Taeyong’s melting, wrapped by a blanket of affection. 

 

They get married at dusk the next day, under a plum tree Taeyong has never seen before, but it gives him hope. There is no one at the ceremony but them, their friend, and the person who marries them. Jaehyun kisses the promise ring already on Taeyong’s hand, then produces another ring. 

 

“Always, with you, I am not afraid,” Jaehyun says, words reverent and gentle. The ring is silver and glints like moonlight in the darkest inky sky, and it will forever remind Taeyong of Jaehyun.

 

“Always with you, together,” Taeyong vows, and he slowly slides the only ring he has ever had onto Jaehyun’s finger, stroking over the sunbright gold that forever seals Jaehyun as his. 

 

“You are - beautiful,” Jaehyun says, cupping Taeyong’s face with a palm. “You have petals in your hair, my light.” 

 

“As do you,” Taeyong laughs, then he’s curving upwards, arching into the kiss Jaehyun presses against his lips, and the world fades into the background. Together, he thinks, tears almost brimming at his eyes. 

 

The time to leave dawns. Taeyong says his final goodbye to his parents, tells his siblings that he loves them, and pens a short letter that he will leave on his desk. He doesn’t say much, just tells them that he is leaving, and that he will not return. He thinks they will know what happened when Jaehyun’s letter is pieced together with his. 

 

Gathering his clothes, money and sustenance into a small pouch, Taeyong leaves his room, clambering down the balcony like Jaehyun has done countless times. He lands right in the garden, and with a pang in his heart, he catches sight of the plum tree. 

 

He had once been happy and satisfied, he knows, but he is not now, and the happiness that he has found no longer lies here. And now, as he leaves, he stops, just to look back at the plum tree. It has grown old with age, bent with time, the blossoms budding and due to open soon, with how close spring is. Yet, he has neither the pleasure not the opportunity to see the plum tree blossom anymore. 

 

_ Goodbye _ , he thinks, whispers, prays, hopes that his mother will know that he is happy. 

 

Jaehyun comes for him just a moment later, a similar pouch slung across his figure, the clothes he donned made for wear and not for ceremony. “Come,” His love bids, extending a soft hand, and Taeyong takes it. 

 

“Gladly,” Taeyong says, glances back one final time, then leaves all that he has ever known behind, leaves the separation of day and night behind, leaves the plum tree behind.

 

They leave in the mid of the night, the moon hanging high above them. As they pass through the towns and villages, there are people who come out, pressing charms and money into their palms. Wide-eyed, they stare. 

 

_ For a better future _ , they whisper,  _ we have always known _ .  _ Find your happiness, we will pray for you _ . 

 

They don’t question how the commoners know, but  _ they  _ are commoners now, and for the first time since they have met, Jaehyun gets to see Taeyong, bathed in the sunlight, glowing and radiant, and he thinks he’ll never regret anything when it comes to Taeyong.

 

They become a myth, a fairytale, the both of them. Stories of them are told to wide-eyed children who hopefully will never have to go through what they have for the sake of love. They are remembered in ways they didn’t expect to be remembered. 

 

The stories go like this. 

 

Two princes, who had fallen in love with each other, despite all the odds. One, of the day, golden threads dripping from the base of his ear to the side of his neck, pooling in his collarbones and down his sides, the personification of the light itself. The other, of the night, dark blue spilling vines over his spine to collect, inky black sprawled over his back, everything that the night could ever be.

 

Against their families and all that they ever knew, for the sake of love, for the sake of themselves, they had escaped together one dawn, leaving Cheonokwon behind and living by the nights, where the dark covered them and they would finally face the dawn together. 

 

Sometimes, they say, if you wake early enough, you can hear the soft song the night had promised for the day, echoing softly through the city, across the mountains and lakes, straight into the homes of the ordinary. 

 

It is neither a tale of morality nor a tale of warning. It is simply a tale, a story, of two princes who fell in love, and were never to be seen again. Most of all, it is a tale of hope, and bravery, and love, and the wish that the world will treat them more kindly in a world and time yet to come. 

**Author's Note:**

> looking back at this, i would have loved to talk more about weddings, particularly the arranged marriage taeyong was supposed to have just to add to the culture present within the story, but i was restrained by my own imposed word limit, so i may go back and explore this at a later date within another fic! i also forgot to include flower meanings for plum blossoms so im kinda bummed out but i think the story works at is so im leaving it~~ 
> 
> please tell me if you liked it!! find me on tumblr @miroh-minho or @angel-injun!!! love you guys <3 <3


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